Gallipoli (1981 film)
Encyclopedia
Gallipoli is a 1981 Australian film, directed by Peter Weir
and starring Mel Gibson
and Mark Lee
, about several young men from rural Western Australia
who enlist in the Australian Army
during the First World War. They are sent to Turkey
, where they take part in the Gallipoli Campaign. During the course of the movie, the young men slowly lose their innocence about the purpose of war. The climax of the movie occurs on the Anzac
battlefield at Gallipoli
and depicts the futile attack at the Battle of the Nek
on 7 August 1915.
Gallipoli provides a faithful portrayal of life in Australia in the 1910s—reminiscent of Weir's 1975 film Picnic at Hanging Rock
set in 1900—and captures the ideals and character of the Australians who joined up to fight, as well as the conditions they endured on the battlefield. It does, however, modify events for dramatic purposes and contains a number of significant historical inaccuracies.
It followed the Australian New Wave
war film Breaker Morant
(1980) and preceded the 5-part TV series ANZACs (1985), and The Lighthorsemen
(1987). Recurring themes of these films include the Australian identity, such as mateship
and larrikinism
, the loss of innocence in war, and the continued coming of age of the Australian nation and its soldiers (later called the ANZAC spirit
).
The numerous running sequences in the film are set to Jean Michel Jarre
's Oxygène
.
Western Australia
, May 1915. Archy Hamilton (Mark Lee
), a 18-year old stockman and prize-winning sprinter, longs to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force
. He is trained by his Uncle Jack (Bill Kerr
) and idolises Harry Lascelles, the world champion over 100 yards.
During a cattle roundup, Archy gets into an argument with local bully Les McCann (Harold Hopkins
). They race against each other, under the condition that Archy will run bare-foot and Les will ride his horse bareback
. Archy wins, but his feet are horribly mangled, only a few days before an athletics carnival.
Later, Archy listens as uncle reads The Jungle Book
to the younger children of the family. The passage wherein Mowgli
reaches manhood and must leave the wolves that raised him moves him deeply. Archy's political beliefs are influenced as well, as he hears several conversations taking place that convince him of the need to join the military. Eventually, Archy and Uncle Jack journey to the athletics carnival.
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Meanwhile, Frank Dunne (Mel Gibson
) is an unemployed railway labourer who has run out of money. He's a fast runner, though, and hopes to win the prize money at the athletics carnival. However, he is deeply impressed when Archy defeats him. As a result, Frank approaches Archy, who has been turned away from the enlistment board for being under age. Ultimately, he and Frank decide to travel to Perth
to enlist.
As Archy and Frank are flat broke, they secretly hop on a freight train only to awaken at an isolated station. They walk across the desert while debating politics. After receiving directions from a camel rider, Archy and Frank stop for the night at a nearby ranch. Upon arriving in Perth, they arrange to stay with Frank's father, an Irish
immigrant.
Due to his Irish heritage and general cynicism, Frank has little desire to fight for the British Empire
. However, loyalty to Archy persuades him to try to enlist in the Light Horse. Unable to ride a horse, Frank enlists in the infantry with three co-workers from the railway: Bill (Robert Grubb
), Barney (Tim McKenzie), and Snowy (David Argue
). Many of the motivations for enlistment are revealed: wartime ultra-nationalism, anti-German
propaganda
, a sense of adventure, and the attraction of the uniform.
After enlisting, all soldiers embark on a transport ship bound for Cairo
. Frank and Archy are separated and embark on different troopships.
In Egypt
for training, Frank and his fellow soldiers train near the Pyramids and spend their free time in Cairo, drinking and visiting brothel
s. During a training exercise, Frank and Archy meet once again; and Frank is able to transfer to the Light Horse, as they are now being sent to the Gallipoli peninsula as infantrymen.
Frank and Archy arrive at Anzac Cove
in the dead of night and, over the next several days, endure the hardships and boredom of trench warfare
. Frank's infantry friends fight in the Battle of Lone Pine
on the evening of 6 August. Afterwards, a traumatized Billy tells Frank what happened to the others: Barney was shot and killed, and Snowy is in a hospital, but in such bad condition that he is denied food and water. His last request to Frank is that his diary be sent to his parents. The following morning, Archy and Frank are ordered to take part in the charge at the Nek, which is to act as a diversion in support of the British landing at Suvla
Bay.
Archy is ordered by their commander, Major Barton (Bill Hunter
), to be the message runner. He declines the offer and recommends Frank for the role.
The 8th and 10th Light Horse attack in three waves across a narrow stretch of exposed ground defended by Turkish machine gunners. The first wave is timed to go at 4:30 AM, the end of an artillery bombardment. Unfortunately, the commanders' watches are unsynchronized and the bombardment ends several minutes before the planned time of the attack. Nevertheless, the brigade's commander, Colonel Robinson, insists the attack proceed; the first wave goes over the top and is mercilessly cut down within seconds. Right before the second wave goes over, Archy recognizes his old rival Les and realizes he is about to go over with the second wave. The second wave goes over, and Les is one of the first to die. Major Barton wants to halt the attack to end the carnage, but Colonel Robinson says that somebody told him ANZAC marker flags were seen in the Turkish trenches, indicating that the attack was at least partially successful. Moments later, the phone line goes dead. Barton gives Frank a message to carry to Robinson at brigade HQ; but, when he arrives, the Colonel insists the attack continue.
Frank returns to Barton and suggests going over the Colonel's head to the Division Commander, General Gardner. Lieutenant Gray (Peter Ford), Barton's aide and second-in-command, admits to Barton that he was the soldier who said that he saw marker flags. However, Gray only heard there were marker flags in the trenches but does not know who said it. Frank hurries to Gardner's headquarters down on the beach. The General is informed that, at Suvla, the British landing party is brewing tea on the beach. He tells Frank that he is reconsidering the attack. As Frank frantically sprints back, the phone lines are repaired and the Colonel orders Barton to push on. Barton joins his men in the attack by climbing out of the trench, pistol in hand, and signaling his men to charge. After being given time to pray, write letters, and save their possessions to be sent to their families, Archy joins the last wave; going over the top and into no man's land
. Frank arrives seconds too late and lets out a scream of anguish and despair. As all his companions are cut down by machine gun fire, Archy drops his rifle and runs as hard as he can. The final frame freezes on him being riddled with bullets in an image which evokes Robert Capa
's The Falling Soldier
.
about how Mowgli
has reached manhood and now must leave the family of wolves that raised him. Actor Mel Gibson
commented, “Gallipoli
was the birth of a nation. It was the shattering of a dream for Australia. They had banded together to fight the Hun and died by the thousands in a dirty little trench war."
The film draws a parallel between sport and warfare, with a recruiter for the Light Horse at the Kimberley Gift race calling war "the greatest game of them all."
cast Mel Gibson
in the role of the cynical Frank Dunne, and newcomer Mark Lee
was recruited to play the idealistic Archy Hamilton after participating in a photo session for the director. Gibson explained the director's reasons for casting the two leads:
Gibson described the film as "Not really a war movie. That's just the backdrop. It's really the story of two young men."
The screenplay is by David Williamson
and original music was provided by Australian composer
Brian May (who had also scored Mad Max
). However the most striking feature of the soundtrack was the use of excerpts from Oxygène
by French electronic music
pioneer Jean Michel Jarre
during running scenes. Quiet or sombre moments at Gallipoli, and the closing credits, feature the Adagio in G minor
. The use of the adagio (Major Barton is heard playing it before the final attack) is a historical oddity. A fragment of the composition purportedly discovered in 1958 by composer Thomaso Albinoni's biographer, Remo Giazotto, in the ruins of a Dresden museum after it was destroyed during World War II, was in fact an entirely new work by Giazotto. Whether a musical hoax or not, the music would not have been known at the time of the battle.
It took three years for the filmmakers to secure funding for the film, and government's film agency declined support because the film was deemed "not commercial." With a cost of $2.8 million, Gallipoli had the highest budget of an Australian film to date. The film was eventually produced
by R&R Films, a production company owned by Robert Stigwood
and media proprietor
Rupert Murdoch
. Murdoch's father, Keith Murdoch
, was a journalist
during the First World War. He visited Gallipoli briefly in September 1915 and became an influential agitator against the conduct of the campaign by the British.
Gallipoli was filmed primarily in South Australia. The cattle station scenes were shot in Beltana
, the salt lake at Lake Torrens
, the station at Adelaide Railway Station
, and the coastline near Port Lincoln was transformed into the Gallipoli Peninsula. The pyramid and bazaar scenes were fimed on location in Egypt
.
Rotten Tomatoes
gives it an Average Rating of 7.9/10 from 15 reviews. Metacritic
gives it 65 (generally favorable reviews) from 6 reviews.
Gallipoli was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film.
:
"Wilfred... was last seen running forward like a schoolboy in a foot-race, with all the speed he could compass."
The most notable deviation of the film from reality, and the one for which it has been most criticized, is its portrayal of the chain of command at the Nek. Although he is seen wearing an AIF uniform, Colonel Robinson is often mistaken for an Englishman due to his accent, which is in fact a clipped Anglo-Australian accent typical of the time and not a deliberate attempt to mislead the audience.
In any case, Colonel Robinson's character equates to the brigade-major of the 3rd Brigade, Colonel J.M. Antill, an Australian Boer War
veteran. Indeed very little British command and control was exercised at the Nek. In his best-selling history, Gallipoli (2001) Les Carlyon
agrees that the film unfairly portrays the English during the battle and Carlyon lays the blame squarely at the feet of Antill and 3rd Australian Light Horse Brigade commander Brigadier General Frederic Hughes
- "The scale of the tragedy of the Nek was mostly the work of two Australian incompetents, Hughes and Antill."
The film implies that the fictional and benevolent General Gardiner called off the attack, when in reality the attack petered out when half of the 4th wave charged without orders whilst the surviving regimental commander in the trenches, Lieutenant Colonel Noel Brazier, attempted to get the attack called off.
Other critics, Carlyon included, have pointed out that the Australian attack at the Nek was a diversion for the New Zealanders' attack on Sari Bair, not the British landing at Suvla. The British were therefore not 'drinking tea on the beach' while Australians died for them. Moreover two companies of a British regiment, the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, in fact suffered very heavy losses trying to support the Australian attack at the Nek once it was realized that the offensive was in trouble. Some have also criticized the film for its portrayal of British officers and their disdain for Australian discipline behind the lines. According to Robert R. James, no evidence for any such disdain on the part of British commanders for their Australian troops actually exists; However, the British command's low regard for the discipline of Australian troops behind the lines has been widely documented by old historians (such as C.W. Bean
) and new ones (Les Carlyon
) alike and by oral tradition of the survivors.
in 2009 dollars.
films. The film also helped to launch the international career of actor Mel Gibson
.
Due to the popularity of the Gallipoli battlefields as a tourist destination, the film is shown each night in a number of hostel
s and hotel
s in Eceabat
and Çanakkale
on the Dardanelles
.
In the 20 to 1
episode "Great Aussie Films", Gallipoli was listed as Number 1.
Peter Weir
Peter Lindsay Weir, AM is an Australian film director. After playing a leading role in the Australian New Wave cinema with his films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave and Gallipoli, Weir directed a diverse group of American and international films—many of them major box office...
and starring Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
and Mark Lee
Mark Lee (actor)
Mark Lee is an Australian actor and director, whose most prominent role was the lead in the film Gallipoli , alongside Mel Gibson. He has worked extensively in Australian film, television and theatre for over thirty years....
, about several young men from rural Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
who enlist in the Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
during the First World War. They are sent to Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, where they take part in the Gallipoli Campaign. During the course of the movie, the young men slowly lose their innocence about the purpose of war. The climax of the movie occurs on the Anzac
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force that was formed in Egypt in 1915 and operated during the Battle of Gallipoli. General William Birdwood commanded the corps, which comprised troops from the First Australian Imperial...
battlefield at Gallipoli
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...
and depicts the futile attack at the Battle of the Nek
Battle of the Nek
The Battle of the Nek was a small World War I battle fought as part of the Gallipoli campaign. "The Nek" was a narrow stretch of ridge in the Anzac battlefield on the Gallipoli peninsula. The name derives from the Afrikaans word for a "mountain pass" but the terrain itself was a perfect bottleneck...
on 7 August 1915.
Gallipoli provides a faithful portrayal of life in Australia in the 1910s—reminiscent of Weir's 1975 film Picnic at Hanging Rock
Picnic at Hanging Rock (film)
Picnic at Hanging Rock is a 1975 Australian feature film directed by Peter Weir and starring Anne-Louise Lambert, Helen Morse, Rachel Roberts and Vivean Gray. The film is adapted from the novel of the same name, by author Joan Lindsay....
set in 1900—and captures the ideals and character of the Australians who joined up to fight, as well as the conditions they endured on the battlefield. It does, however, modify events for dramatic purposes and contains a number of significant historical inaccuracies.
It followed the Australian New Wave
Australian New Wave
The Australian New Wave was an era of resurgence in worldwide popularity of Australian cinema...
war film Breaker Morant
Breaker Morant (film)
Breaker Morant is a 1980 Australian film about the court martial of Breaker Morant, directed by Bruce Beresford and starring British actor Edward Woodward as Harry "Breaker" Morant...
(1980) and preceded the 5-part TV series ANZACs (1985), and The Lighthorsemen
The Lighthorsemen (film)
The Lighthorsemen is a 1987 Australian feature film about the men of a World War I light horse unit involved in the 1917 Battle of Beersheeba...
(1987). Recurring themes of these films include the Australian identity, such as mateship
Mateship
Mateship is an Australian cultural idiom that embodies equality, loyalty and friendship. There are two types of mateship, the inclusive and the exclusive; the inclusive is in relation to a shared situation , whereas the exclusive type is toward a third party...
and larrikinism
Larrikinism
Larrikinism is the name given to the Australian folk tradition of irreverence, mockery of authority and disregard for rigid norms of propriety. Larrikinism can also be associated with self-deprecating humour.- Etymology :...
, the loss of innocence in war, and the continued coming of age of the Australian nation and its soldiers (later called the ANZAC spirit
ANZAC spirit
The Anzac spirit or Anzac legend is a concept which suggests that Australian and New Zealand soldiers possess shared characteristics, specifically the qualities those soldiers are believed to have shown on the battlefield in World War I. These qualities cluster around several ideas, including...
).
The numerous running sequences in the film are set to Jean Michel Jarre
Jean Michel Jarre
Jean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...
's Oxygène
Oxygene
Oxygène is an album of instrumental electronic music composed, produced, and performed by the French composer Jean Michel Jarre. It was first released in France in December 1976, on Disques Dreyfus with license to Polydor. The album's international release was in summer 1977...
.
Plot
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, May 1915. Archy Hamilton (Mark Lee
Mark Lee (actor)
Mark Lee is an Australian actor and director, whose most prominent role was the lead in the film Gallipoli , alongside Mel Gibson. He has worked extensively in Australian film, television and theatre for over thirty years....
), a 18-year old stockman and prize-winning sprinter, longs to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force
First Australian Imperial Force
The First Australian Imperial Force was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during World War I. It was formed from 15 August 1914, following Britain's declaration of war on Germany. Generally known at the time as the AIF, it is today referred to as the 1st AIF to distinguish from...
. He is trained by his Uncle Jack (Bill Kerr
Bill Kerr
William 'Bill' Kerr is an Australian film and television actor. He was born into a performing arts family in Cape Town, South Africa, but grew up in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia....
) and idolises Harry Lascelles, the world champion over 100 yards.
During a cattle roundup, Archy gets into an argument with local bully Les McCann (Harold Hopkins
Harold Hopkins
Harold Horace Hopkins FRS was a renowned British physicist. His Wave Theory of Aberrations, , is central to all modern optical design and provides the mathematical analysis which enables the use of computers to create the wealth of high quality lenses available today...
). They race against each other, under the condition that Archy will run bare-foot and Les will ride his horse bareback
Bareback
Bareback riding is a form of horseback riding without a saddle.Bareback may also refer to:* A type of rodeo event* Bareback , an act of unprotected sex* "Bareback" , a 2003 glam metal song...
. Archy wins, but his feet are horribly mangled, only a few days before an athletics carnival.
Later, Archy listens as uncle reads The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book is a collection of stories by British Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling. The stories were first published in magazines in 1893–4. The original publications contain illustrations, some by Rudyard's father, John Lockwood Kipling. Kipling was born in India and spent the first six...
to the younger children of the family. The passage wherein Mowgli
Mowgli
Mowgli is a fictional character from India who originally appeared in Rudyard Kipling's short story "In the Rukh" and then went on to become the most prominent and memorable character in his fantasies, The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book , which also featured stories about other...
reaches manhood and must leave the wolves that raised him moves him deeply. Archy's political beliefs are influenced as well, as he hears several conversations taking place that convince him of the need to join the military. Eventually, Archy and Uncle Jack journey to the athletics carnival.
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
) is an unemployed railway labourer who has run out of money. He's a fast runner, though, and hopes to win the prize money at the athletics carnival. However, he is deeply impressed when Archy defeats him. As a result, Frank approaches Archy, who has been turned away from the enlistment board for being under age. Ultimately, he and Frank decide to travel to Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
to enlist.
As Archy and Frank are flat broke, they secretly hop on a freight train only to awaken at an isolated station. They walk across the desert while debating politics. After receiving directions from a camel rider, Archy and Frank stop for the night at a nearby ranch. Upon arriving in Perth, they arrange to stay with Frank's father, an Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
immigrant.
Due to his Irish heritage and general cynicism, Frank has little desire to fight for the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. However, loyalty to Archy persuades him to try to enlist in the Light Horse. Unable to ride a horse, Frank enlists in the infantry with three co-workers from the railway: Bill (Robert Grubb
Robert Grubb
Robert Grubb is an Australian actor. He studied acting at National Institute of Dramatic Art , where he graduated in 1978.Grubb played the role of Dr. Geoffrey Standish in the popular series The Flying Doctors...
), Barney (Tim McKenzie), and Snowy (David Argue
David Argue
David Argue is an Australian actor. He is most known for his role in the 1993 film Hercules Returns.-Television:*The Restless Years *Winners *Raw Silk *Pirates Island *Cluedo...
). Many of the motivations for enlistment are revealed: wartime ultra-nationalism, anti-German
Anti-German sentiment
Anti-German sentiment is defined as an opposition to or fear of Germany, its inhabitants, and the German language. Its opposite is Germanophilia.-Russia:...
propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
, a sense of adventure, and the attraction of the uniform.
After enlisting, all soldiers embark on a transport ship bound for Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
. Frank and Archy are separated and embark on different troopships.
In Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
for training, Frank and his fellow soldiers train near the Pyramids and spend their free time in Cairo, drinking and visiting brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
s. During a training exercise, Frank and Archy meet once again; and Frank is able to transfer to the Light Horse, as they are now being sent to the Gallipoli peninsula as infantrymen.
Frank and Archy arrive at Anzac Cove
Anzac Cove
Anzac Cove is a small cove on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. It became famous as the site of World War I landing of the ANZAC on April 25, 1915. The cove is a mere long, bounded by the headlands of Ari Burnu to the north and Little Ari Burnu, known as Hell Spit, to the south...
in the dead of night and, over the next several days, endure the hardships and boredom of trench warfare
Trench warfare
Trench warfare is a form of occupied fighting lines, consisting largely of trenches, in which troops are largely immune to the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery...
. Frank's infantry friends fight in the Battle of Lone Pine
Battle of Lone Pine
The Battle of Lone Pine was a battle between Australian and Turkish forces that took place during the Gallipoli campaign from 6–10 August 1915. It was part of a diversion to draw attention from the main assaults of 6 August against the Sari Bair peaks of Chunuk Bair and Hill 971, which became...
on the evening of 6 August. Afterwards, a traumatized Billy tells Frank what happened to the others: Barney was shot and killed, and Snowy is in a hospital, but in such bad condition that he is denied food and water. His last request to Frank is that his diary be sent to his parents. The following morning, Archy and Frank are ordered to take part in the charge at the Nek, which is to act as a diversion in support of the British landing at Suvla
Suvla
Suvla is a bay on the Aegean coast of the Gallipoli peninsula in European Turkey, south of the Gulf of Saros.On 6 August 1915 it was the site for the Landing at Suvla Bay by the British IX Corps as part of the August Offensive during the Battle of Gallipoli...
Bay.
Archy is ordered by their commander, Major Barton (Bill Hunter
Bill Hunter (actor)
William John "Bill" Hunter was an Australian actor of film, stage and television. He appeared in more than 60 films and won two Australian Film Institute Awards.-Early life:Hunter was a son of William and Francie Hunter...
), to be the message runner. He declines the offer and recommends Frank for the role.
The 8th and 10th Light Horse attack in three waves across a narrow stretch of exposed ground defended by Turkish machine gunners. The first wave is timed to go at 4:30 AM, the end of an artillery bombardment. Unfortunately, the commanders' watches are unsynchronized and the bombardment ends several minutes before the planned time of the attack. Nevertheless, the brigade's commander, Colonel Robinson, insists the attack proceed; the first wave goes over the top and is mercilessly cut down within seconds. Right before the second wave goes over, Archy recognizes his old rival Les and realizes he is about to go over with the second wave. The second wave goes over, and Les is one of the first to die. Major Barton wants to halt the attack to end the carnage, but Colonel Robinson says that somebody told him ANZAC marker flags were seen in the Turkish trenches, indicating that the attack was at least partially successful. Moments later, the phone line goes dead. Barton gives Frank a message to carry to Robinson at brigade HQ; but, when he arrives, the Colonel insists the attack continue.
Frank returns to Barton and suggests going over the Colonel's head to the Division Commander, General Gardner. Lieutenant Gray (Peter Ford), Barton's aide and second-in-command, admits to Barton that he was the soldier who said that he saw marker flags. However, Gray only heard there were marker flags in the trenches but does not know who said it. Frank hurries to Gardner's headquarters down on the beach. The General is informed that, at Suvla, the British landing party is brewing tea on the beach. He tells Frank that he is reconsidering the attack. As Frank frantically sprints back, the phone lines are repaired and the Colonel orders Barton to push on. Barton joins his men in the attack by climbing out of the trench, pistol in hand, and signaling his men to charge. After being given time to pray, write letters, and save their possessions to be sent to their families, Archy joins the last wave; going over the top and into no man's land
No man's land
No man's land is a term for land that is unoccupied or is under dispute between parties that leave it unoccupied due to fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dumping ground for refuse between fiefdoms...
. Frank arrives seconds too late and lets out a scream of anguish and despair. As all his companions are cut down by machine gun fire, Archy drops his rifle and runs as hard as he can. The final frame freezes on him being riddled with bullets in an image which evokes Robert Capa
Robert Capa
Robert Capa was a Hungarian combat photographer and photojournalist who covered five different wars: the Spanish Civil War, the Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II across Europe, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and the First Indochina War...
's The Falling Soldier
The Falling Soldier
The Falling Soldier is a famous photograph taken by Robert Capa, understood to have been taken on September 5, 1936 and long thought to depict the death of a Republican, specifically an Iberian Federation of Libertarian Youth soldier during the Spanish Civil War, who was later identified as the...
.
Themes
A major theme of the film is loss of innocence and the coming of age of the Australian soldiers and of their country. An early scene in the film depicts Uncle Jack reading from The Jungle BookThe Jungle Book
The Jungle Book is a collection of stories by British Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling. The stories were first published in magazines in 1893–4. The original publications contain illustrations, some by Rudyard's father, John Lockwood Kipling. Kipling was born in India and spent the first six...
about how Mowgli
Mowgli
Mowgli is a fictional character from India who originally appeared in Rudyard Kipling's short story "In the Rukh" and then went on to become the most prominent and memorable character in his fantasies, The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book , which also featured stories about other...
has reached manhood and now must leave the family of wolves that raised him. Actor Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
commented, “Gallipoli
Battle of Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli, took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War...
was the birth of a nation. It was the shattering of a dream for Australia. They had banded together to fight the Hun and died by the thousands in a dirty little trench war."
The film draws a parallel between sport and warfare, with a recruiter for the Light Horse at the Kimberley Gift race calling war "the greatest game of them all."
Production
Peter WeirPeter Weir
Peter Lindsay Weir, AM is an Australian film director. After playing a leading role in the Australian New Wave cinema with his films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave and Gallipoli, Weir directed a diverse group of American and international films—many of them major box office...
cast Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
in the role of the cynical Frank Dunne, and newcomer Mark Lee
Mark Lee (actor)
Mark Lee is an Australian actor and director, whose most prominent role was the lead in the film Gallipoli , alongside Mel Gibson. He has worked extensively in Australian film, television and theatre for over thirty years....
was recruited to play the idealistic Archy Hamilton after participating in a photo session for the director. Gibson explained the director's reasons for casting the two leads:
"I'd auditioned for an earlier film and he told me right up front, ‘I'm not going to cast you for this part. You're not old enough. But thanks for coming in, I just wanted to meet you.’ He told me he wanted me for Gallipoli a couple of years later because I wasn't the archetypal Australian. He had Mark LeeMark Lee (actor)Mark Lee is an Australian actor and director, whose most prominent role was the lead in the film Gallipoli , alongside Mel Gibson. He has worked extensively in Australian film, television and theatre for over thirty years....
, the angelic-looking, ideal Australian kid, and he wanted something of a modern sensibility. He thought the audience needed someone to relate to of their own time."
Gibson described the film as "Not really a war movie. That's just the backdrop. It's really the story of two young men."
The screenplay is by David Williamson
David Williamson
David Keith Williamson AO is one of Australia's best-known playwrights. He has also written screenplays and teleplays.-Biography:...
and original music was provided by Australian composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Brian May (who had also scored Mad Max
Mad Max
Mad Max is a 1979 Australian dystopian action film directed by George Miller and revised by Miller and Byron Kennedy over the original script by James McCausland. The film stars Mel Gibson, who was unknown at the time. Its narrative based around the traditional western genre, Mad Max tells a story...
). However the most striking feature of the soundtrack was the use of excerpts from Oxygène
Oxygene
Oxygène is an album of instrumental electronic music composed, produced, and performed by the French composer Jean Michel Jarre. It was first released in France in December 1976, on Disques Dreyfus with license to Polydor. The album's international release was in summer 1977...
by French electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
pioneer Jean Michel Jarre
Jean Michel Jarre
Jean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...
during running scenes. Quiet or sombre moments at Gallipoli, and the closing credits, feature the Adagio in G minor
Adagio in G minor
The Adagio in G minor for violin, strings and organ continuo, is a neo-Baroque composition popularly attributed to the 18th-century Venetian master Tomaso Albinoni, but composed by the 20th-century musicologist and Albinoni biographer Remo Giazotto and based on the disputed discovery of a...
. The use of the adagio (Major Barton is heard playing it before the final attack) is a historical oddity. A fragment of the composition purportedly discovered in 1958 by composer Thomaso Albinoni's biographer, Remo Giazotto, in the ruins of a Dresden museum after it was destroyed during World War II, was in fact an entirely new work by Giazotto. Whether a musical hoax or not, the music would not have been known at the time of the battle.
It took three years for the filmmakers to secure funding for the film, and government's film agency declined support because the film was deemed "not commercial." With a cost of $2.8 million, Gallipoli had the highest budget of an Australian film to date. The film was eventually produced
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
by R&R Films, a production company owned by Robert Stigwood
Robert Stigwood
Robert Stigwood is an impresario and entertainment entrepreneur who relocated to England in 1954...
and media proprietor
Media proprietor
A media proprietor is a person who controls, either through personal ownership or a dominant position in any media enterprise. Those with significant control of a public company in the mass media may also be called "media moguls", "tycoons", "barons", or "bosses".The figure of the media proprietor...
Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
. Murdoch's father, Keith Murdoch
Keith Murdoch
Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch was an Australian journalist and the father of Rupert Murdoch, the CEO and Chairman of News Corp.-Life and career:Murdoch was born in Melbourne in 1885, the son of Annie and the Rev...
, was a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
during the First World War. He visited Gallipoli briefly in September 1915 and became an influential agitator against the conduct of the campaign by the British.
Gallipoli was filmed primarily in South Australia. The cattle station scenes were shot in Beltana
Beltana, South Australia
Beltana is a semi-ghost town north of Adelaide, South Australia. Beltana is known for continuing to exist long after the reasons for its existence had ceased...
, the salt lake at Lake Torrens
Lake Torrens National Park
Lake Torrens National Park is a national park in South Australia, 345 km north of Adelaide.-Geology:Lake Torrens is a 5,700 square kilometre endorheic saline rift lake in South Australia,and is located near the bottom of Australia. It forms part of the same rift valley that includes Spencer...
, the station at Adelaide Railway Station
Adelaide Railway Station
Adelaide Railway Station is the central terminus of the Adelaide Metro railway system. It is at on the north side of North Terrace, west of Parliament House. The Adelaide Casino is in part of the building that is no longer required for the station....
, and the coastline near Port Lincoln was transformed into the Gallipoli Peninsula. The pyramid and bazaar scenes were fimed on location in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
.
Reception
Gallipoli proved to be a success domestically at the box office earning $11,740,000. Roadshow Video also successfully distributed Gallipoli through video-cassette with the film topping the list in Australian Film Rental in 1981 earning a further $2,854,000. Gallipoli was also released in both the United Kingdom and America despite an icy reception by several international critics.Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gives it an Average Rating of 7.9/10 from 15 reviews. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gives it 65 (generally favorable reviews) from 6 reviews.
Gallipoli was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film.
Historical criticism
Gallipoli shows much of the conditions and events that soldiers endured in the Gallipoli theater of war. Archy Hamilton's athlete character was inspired by a line from C.E.W. Bean's Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918 describing Private Wilfred Harper of the 10th Light Horse during the attack at the NekBattle of the Nek
The Battle of the Nek was a small World War I battle fought as part of the Gallipoli campaign. "The Nek" was a narrow stretch of ridge in the Anzac battlefield on the Gallipoli peninsula. The name derives from the Afrikaans word for a "mountain pass" but the terrain itself was a perfect bottleneck...
:
"Wilfred... was last seen running forward like a schoolboy in a foot-race, with all the speed he could compass."
The most notable deviation of the film from reality, and the one for which it has been most criticized, is its portrayal of the chain of command at the Nek. Although he is seen wearing an AIF uniform, Colonel Robinson is often mistaken for an Englishman due to his accent, which is in fact a clipped Anglo-Australian accent typical of the time and not a deliberate attempt to mislead the audience.
In any case, Colonel Robinson's character equates to the brigade-major of the 3rd Brigade, Colonel J.M. Antill, an Australian Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
veteran. Indeed very little British command and control was exercised at the Nek. In his best-selling history, Gallipoli (2001) Les Carlyon
Les Carlyon
Les Carlyon is an Australian writer, who was born in northern Victoria in 1942. He has been editor of Melbourne's journal of record, The Age, as well as editor-in-chief of The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd, and has twice won the Walkley Award for journalism...
agrees that the film unfairly portrays the English during the battle and Carlyon lays the blame squarely at the feet of Antill and 3rd Australian Light Horse Brigade commander Brigadier General Frederic Hughes
Frederic Godfrey Hughes
Major General Frederic Godfrey Hughes CB was an Australian Army Major General in World War I.-Early life and career:...
- "The scale of the tragedy of the Nek was mostly the work of two Australian incompetents, Hughes and Antill."
The film implies that the fictional and benevolent General Gardiner called off the attack, when in reality the attack petered out when half of the 4th wave charged without orders whilst the surviving regimental commander in the trenches, Lieutenant Colonel Noel Brazier, attempted to get the attack called off.
Other critics, Carlyon included, have pointed out that the Australian attack at the Nek was a diversion for the New Zealanders' attack on Sari Bair, not the British landing at Suvla. The British were therefore not 'drinking tea on the beach' while Australians died for them. Moreover two companies of a British regiment, the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, in fact suffered very heavy losses trying to support the Australian attack at the Nek once it was realized that the offensive was in trouble. Some have also criticized the film for its portrayal of British officers and their disdain for Australian discipline behind the lines. According to Robert R. James, no evidence for any such disdain on the part of British commanders for their Australian troops actually exists; However, the British command's low regard for the discipline of Australian troops behind the lines has been widely documented by old historians (such as C.W. Bean
Charles Bean
Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean , usually identified as C.E.W. Bean, was an Australian schoolmaster, judge's associate, barrister journalist, war correspondent and historian....
) and new ones (Les Carlyon
Les Carlyon
Les Carlyon is an Australian writer, who was born in northern Victoria in 1942. He has been editor of Melbourne's journal of record, The Age, as well as editor-in-chief of The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd, and has twice won the Walkley Award for journalism...
) alike and by oral tradition of the survivors.
Box office
Gallipoli grossed $11,740,000 at the box office in Australia, which is equivalent to $38,037,600in 2009 dollars.
Influence
With a budget of $2.6 million dollars, Gallipoli received heavy international promotion and distribution and helped to elevate the worldwide reputation of the Australian film industry and of later Australian New WaveAustralian New Wave
The Australian New Wave was an era of resurgence in worldwide popularity of Australian cinema...
films. The film also helped to launch the international career of actor Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
.
Due to the popularity of the Gallipoli battlefields as a tourist destination, the film is shown each night in a number of hostel
Hostel
Hostels provide budget oriented, sociable accommodation where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed, in a dormitory and share a bathroom, lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex, although private rooms may also be available...
s and hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s in Eceabat
Eceabat
Eceabat, formerly Maydos , is a town and district of Çanakkale Province in the Marmara region of Turkey, located on the eastern shore of the Gelibolu Peninsula, on the Dardanelles Strait. According to the 2010 census, population of the district is 9,154 of which 5,380 live in the town of Eceabat...
and Çanakkale
Çanakkale
Çanakkale is a town and seaport in Turkey, in Çanakkale Province, on the southern coast of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. The population of the town is 106,116 . The mayor is Ülgür Gökhan ....
on the Dardanelles
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
.
In the 20 to 1
20 to 1
20 to 1 is an Australian television series, currently hosted by Bert Newton that counts down an undefined "top 20" of elements or events of popular culture, such as films, songs, sporting scandals. Previously the show was hosted by Charles "Bud" Tingwell and narrated by David Reyne...
episode "Great Aussie Films", Gallipoli was listed as Number 1.
See also
- Cinema of AustraliaCinema of AustraliaCinema of Australia, more commonly referred to as the Australian film industry, refers to the system of production, distribution, and exhibition of films in Australia. Film production commenced in Australia in 1906 with the production of The Story of the Kelly Gang, the earliest feature film made...
- Peter WeirPeter WeirPeter Lindsay Weir, AM is an Australian film director. After playing a leading role in the Australian New Wave cinema with his films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave and Gallipoli, Weir directed a diverse group of American and international films—many of them major box office...
- Landing at Anzac CoveLanding at Anzac CoveThe landing at Anzac Cove was part of the amphibious invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula by Australian and New Zealand forces on 25 April 1915. The landing, north of Gaba Tepe on the Aegean coast of the Peninsula, was made by soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and was the first...
- Gallipoli Campaign
- Battle of the NekBattle of the NekThe Battle of the Nek was a small World War I battle fought as part of the Gallipoli campaign. "The Nek" was a narrow stretch of ridge in the Anzac battlefield on the Gallipoli peninsula. The name derives from the Afrikaans word for a "mountain pass" but the terrain itself was a perfect bottleneck...
- Battle of Lone PineBattle of Lone PineThe Battle of Lone Pine was a battle between Australian and Turkish forces that took place during the Gallipoli campaign from 6–10 August 1915. It was part of a diversion to draw attention from the main assaults of 6 August against the Sari Bair peaks of Chunuk Bair and Hill 971, which became...
- Gallipoli (2005 film)Gallipoli (2005 film)Gallipoli is a 2005 film by Turkish filmmaker Tolga Örnek. It is a documentary about the 1915 Gallipoli campaign, narrated by both sides, the Turks on one side and the British soldiers and Anzacs on the other side.-Synopsis:Through the use of surviving diaries, letters and photographs from...
Documentary